I've been driving a Fiat Panda (2011) for the past five years and I love it. I know they're not everyone's favourite car, but it was my first car and has been perfect for what I needed. It's speedy with good acceleration so never feels like you have to drag it up a hill, small and easy to park, comfortable to drive, reliable, and has coped pretty well with the longer and longer journeys I've been putting it through.
In the past six months my mileage has increased from around 10k per year to what I predict to be about 17-18k this year. In this time it has started to struggle more, and has increasingly needed repairs. But now, after a crash this week, it has been written off and I need to try and find something that will be able to manage my mileage (which hopefully will decrease to ~15/16k in the next year or so) and also fulfil everything I loved about the Panda!
This was my first car so I'm feeling overwhelmed with where to start looking. I'd always rather go off recommendations, so does anyone have suggestions of where to look to narrow my search down, or, incredibly, know the perfect car for what I need?!